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Σάββατο, 20 Οκτωβρίου 2012

7 Historical Figures Famous for Something They Never Did

Even if you disagree with Napoleon
Bonaparte’s famous remark that “history is a set of lies that people
have agreed upon,” there’s little doubt that myths, misconceptions and
outright fabrications have often shaped our understanding of the past.
In some instances, these legends have become so ingrained that they
overshadow the actual facts of a historical figure’s life. Find out the
truth about seven notable people who’ve become forever linked with
something they never did.

1. Abner Doubleday (for inventing baseball)

Abner
Doubleday was a Civil War general and abolitionist who famously ordered
the first Union shots in defense of Fort Sumter. But while he had a
distinguished military career, Doubleday is more commonly remembered for
inventing baseball—even though he did no such thing.
The story dates back to 1905, when former National League president
A.G. Mills headed a commission to investigate the origins of America’s
favorite pastime. Based on a letter from a man named Abner Graves, the
commission incorrectly concluded that Doubleday had invented baseball in
Cooperstown, New York, in 1839. In truth, Doubleday was attending West
Point in 1839 and had never claimed any involvement with baseball.
Nevertheless, the myth persisted for years, and the Baseball Hall of
Fame was even established in Cooperstown on the sport’s mistaken
centennial in 1939.

2. Lady Godiva (for her naked horseback ride)

Lady
Godiva is best known for defiantly riding naked through the streets of
medieval Coventry to protest the crippling taxes her husband had levied
on the townspeople. According to legend, at some point in the 11th
century Godiva pressured her powerful husband, Leofric, to reduce the
people’s debts. When he mockingly responded that he would only do so
when she rode naked on horseback through the town, Godiva called his
bluff and galloped into the history books.
While this story has become the stuff of legend—a tailor who spied on
Godiva even inspired the phrase “peeping Tom”—scholars agree that the
nude horseback ride probably never happened. Godiva certainly existed,
but most histories mention her as simply the wife of an influential
nobleman. In fact, the complete Godiva myth didn’t even appear until the
13th century, 200 years after the ride supposedly occurred. The story
was later picked up by notable writers like Alfred Lord Tennyson, whose
1842 poem “Godiva” helped cement the tall tale as a historical fact.

3. Nero (for fiddling while Rome burned)

One
of the most famous stories of Roman decadence concerns Nero, the
emperor who blithely “fiddled while Rome burned” during the great fire
of 64 A.D. According to some ancient historians, the emperor had ordered
his men to start the fire in order to clear space for his new palace.
But while Nero was certainly no saint—he reportedly ordered the murder
of his own mother during his rise to power—the story of his fiendish
fiddling is likely exaggerated.
While some ancient chroniclers did describe the music-loving emperor
as singing while he watched flames consume the city, the historian
Tacitus would later denounce these claims as vicious rumors. According
to him, Nero was away at Antium during the early stages of the blaze,
and upon returning to Rome helped lead rescue and rebuilding efforts and
even opened his palace gardens to those who lost their homes. A further
strike against the legend is that the fiddle would not even be invented
for several hundred years. If Nero played any instrument while Rome
burned—which remains up for debate—it would most likely have been a
cithara, a kind of lyre.

4. Marie-Antoinette (for “Let them eat cake”)

When
she was informed that her people were starving from lack of bread, the
18th-century French queen Marie-Antoinette is said to have quipped,
“Then let them eat cake.” This famous line has traditionally served to
underscore the monarch’s ignorance of her subjects’ plight, yet there is
almost no evidence that Marie-Antoinette ever uttered those words.
The phrase first appeared in reference to a “great princess” in the
philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s book “Confessions,” which was
written in early 1766. If Rousseau were indeed referring to
Marie-Antoinette, it would mean she was only 10 years old and not yet a
queen when she said it. Scholars think Rousseau either coined the phrase
or that it was a common insult used to criticize various aristocratic
figures in the 18th century. So if “let them eat cake” was ever directly
attributed to Marie-Antoinette in her lifetime, it was most likely part
of a deliberate attempt by her political opponents to discredit her.

5. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (for inventing the guillotine)

Contrary
to popular belief, the French doctor Joseph-Ignace Guillotin did not
directly invent the feared decapitation machine that bears his name.
Ironically, Guillotin was a noted opponent of capital punishment.
Desperate to put a stop to the brutal ax beheadings and hangings used in
state executions, in 1789 he proposed to the French National Assembly
that a more humane and painless method be developed.
With Guillotin acting in a managerial role, the plans for what became
the guillotine were then drafted by a surgeon named Antoine Louis, who
modeled the device on similar machines found in Scotland and Italy.
After a German named Tobias Schmidt built the first prototype, it was
put into regular use by the French government. While Guillotin had
neither designed nor built the apparatus, it still eventually became
known—much to his disgust—as the guillotine. Another popular claim
states that Guillotin was later beheaded by the guillotine during the
French Revolution, but this too is a myth.

6. George Washington Carver (for inventing peanut butter)

George
Washington Carver was an American scientist and inventor famous for
creating alternative food products and farming methods. But while
Carver’s many innovations earned him comparisons to Leonardo da Vinci,
the erroneous belief that he invented peanut butter has stuck in the
popular imagination.
Carver was indeed a peanut pioneer—he is reputed to have found over
300 uses for the legume during his career—but he wasn’t the first person
to create peanut butter. In truth, evidence of peanut-based pastes can
be found in South America as far back as 950 B.C. Meanwhile, modern
peanut butter substances were first patented in 1884 by Marcellus
Edson—who referred to it as “peanut-candy”—and later by John Harvey
Kellogg, who unveiled a process for creating peanut butter in 1895.
While he eventually became its most famous advocate, Carver did not
begin his own experiments on the peanut until 1903.

7. Betsy Ross (for making the first American flag)

One
of American history’s most persistent legends involves Betsy Ross, a
Philadelphia seamstress who supposedly made the first American flag. As
the story goes, in 1776 Ross was commissioned to sew the flag—which then
featured a circle of 13 stars—by a small committee that included George
Washington. Ross supposedly produced her famous flag a few days later
and even changed the design to make the stars five-pointed rather than
six-pointed.
While versions of this story continue to be taught in American
classrooms, most historians dismiss it as a tall tale. Newspapers from
the time make no reference to Ross or the meeting, and Washington never
mentioned her involvement in creating the flag. In fact, the Ross legend
didn’t even make its first appearance until 1870, when her grandson,
William Canby, related it to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. But
outside of showing affidavits from family members, Canby never produced
any convincing evidence to support his claim. It’s true that Betsy Ross
made American flags in the late 1770s, but the tale of her very first
flag is likely untrue.